The Legend of Zelda: The Three Springs
by HeavyArtillery
Summary: Set several centuries after the events of Skyward Sword fade into legend, in the town of Kako where two best friends live, an old enemy returns, vengeance in his heart, preparing to end the ones to which he lost everything.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Legend of Zelda: The Three Springs**_

The cloud he sat on felt soft and fluffy as he fished for stars in the everlasting pond of night. Soft music played in the background, making him feeling sleepy and content as he fished.

Suddenly the line jerked, and he became alert. The calming music had changed into something more ominous as he began to reel in his catch. However, whatever was on the end of the line didn't seem to want to be caught and fought violently as he continued to reel at a steady pace.

Finally, his catch broke the starry surface of the pond. He first saw a soaked blonde head, followed by a beautiful, naked female chest and lower body. He stared at it for a second, his guts stirring oddly at the sight of an unclothed woman.

She looked strangely familiar.

He leapt backed in surprise as her head jerked up and she angrily said, "Link."

Instantly the starry pool melted away and the young woman grew in size until was a giant, which caused Link to stumble backwards in fear. The giant swelled in anger before bellowing, "LINK!" with such force that Link was forced to close his eyes.

"WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT, WAKE UP!"

Link's eyes flew open and found his best friend Zelda towering over him much like the dream version had, except, of course, fully clothed, unlike the dream version. Her golden hair was tied into a ponytail with a purple ribbon and her blue eyes stared into his. Annoyance was a prominent emotion on her heart-shaped face. She was wearing a pink cotton shirt and white pants. She also wore a pair of light brown leather boots. On her arms she had several teal and purple bracelets and a gold amulet was hanging from her neck.

"Finally!" She looked livid. "Get up! GET UP! We're going to be late to class if you don't get up RIGHT NOW!"

"You don't have to wait for me you know." Link grumbled as he grudgingly got out of his comfortable bed.

"Of course I do." Zelda said haughtily. "I wouldn't be much of a good friend if I didn't, would I?" She walked towards the door and stepped out onto the hallway. "You have two minutes to get dressed, after that I'll come in and drag you out. Understood?" Link nodded. "Good." Zelda then left, closing the door behind her, leaving Link to change in a panic well aware that Zelda would stay true to her word and drag him out even if he was completely naked.

Two minutes later, he exited his room wearing a white shirt and dark brown pants with dark leather boots and found Zelda waiting for him in the cramp kitchen of his grandfather's house. Zelda pointed at a bowl of steaming porridge and looked at him pointedly. "Eat. And hurry up, we're already late."

Link's grandfather and his little sister Aryll looked amused by Zelda's antics. Link sighed as he plopped down to eat. Zelda had always been the leader of the pair. She was more outgoing and assertive than Link tended to be.

He wolfed down breakfast and got up. "Come on." Zelda said, tapping her foot impatiently. "_You're_ going to explain to Professor Horwell and Owlan _why_ we're late."

The two exited Link's grandfather's house and began walking down the road of the village of Kako. Kako was apparently one of the first human settlements on Hyrule, created by a group of people who were said to have had descended from a legendary town in the sky. Link and Zelda passed the fields, waving at the farmer's that were currently plowing the fields.

At the end of the road was a large barn that served as the school-house. Inside were several large desks and stools, each stocked with extra paper, quills, and inkwells for the students. The floor was covered in dried straw. In the upper part of the barn was where the teacher's offices were. The rest of the class was already there when the two of them arrived. Owlan seemed to have just begun the lesson when Link and Zelda burst in.

Owlan looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Ah… Mister Link and Miss Zelda, I was beginning to think that you two would not be joining us today."

Several students snickered.

"Sir, please, it was Link's fault!" Zelda said before snapping at Link, "Don't look at me like that," She had seen the dirty look Link had thrown at her, "It _is_ your fault."

"It does not matter," Owlan said dismissively. "Fortunately, we had barely started the lesson when you two arrived." He nodded to their seats. "Take a seat so we may continue."

Link and Zelda took sat down as Owlan began the lesson. After about thirty minutes into the lesson, Link's eyes began to droop and he stifled a yawn. Owlan tended to be the more boring of the two instructors.

However, before he could doze off, Zelda jabbed him in the ribs with her quill and hissed "No sleeping" before returning to taking notes on Owlan's lesson. After that, anytime Link was close to falling back asleep, Zelda would give him a sharp jab and vehemently hiss "no sleeping".

Finally, after five and a half hours of numbing boredom, Owlan let the students leave for the one hour lunch break.

Link followed Zelda out of the school, stuffing a doodle filled paper that was supposed to be his notes into his pocket. Zelda wrinkled her nose at the sight of the paper.

"I wonder," Zelda began. "How you would cope if I refused to let you copy my notes."

"I would fail." Link said simply. 'But you wouldn't do that."

"What makes you so sure?" Zelda asked tauntingly.

"You couldn't have that on your conscience that you let your best friend fail."

"You'd deserve it." Zelda snapped. "Either way, you really need to start paying attention during class."

"What can I say?" Link shrugged. "I don't have your brains, or concentration, or memory. You're just smarter than me."

"Oh, shut up and stop selling yourself short." She grumbled, though she now looked slightly pleased with herself at this admission.

"So, which house are we going to, mine or yours?" Zelda asked Link.

Link thought about it for a second. "Let's go to yours, we went to mine yesterday."

Zelda nodded and they began to make their way to Zelda's home where her mother was sitting in the front of the house.

Upon spotting the teenagers, Zelda's mother stood up and waved to them. "Oh, Zelda! Link! Hello! Is it time for lunch already?"

Zelda's mother ushered the pair in the house, sat them down, and began to prepare some food for them.

"So," Her mother began. "How is everything at school?"

Zelda shot a sideways glance at Link before answering "Everything's fine except for the fact that Link has been sleeping in more than usual lately." She turned completely towards Link. "I've been meaning to ask you. What have you been doing at night that is keeping you from sleeping?"

Link turned away. "Thinking." He muttered.

_About you_, he added to himself silently.

Recently, Link had begun to question his relationship with his best friend. Zelda's personality was quite overbearing. She tended to become bossy, stubborn, somewhat reckless, and was self-appointed leader of the pair, while he was more reserved, cautious and was so quiet that he often seemed invisible.

Up until recently, Link didn't mind following her lead. Sure, every so often he would feel a pang of resentment or jealousy towards his best friend, but now those pangs were becoming a near constant feeling. Zelda overshadowed him so much that everyone knew Zelda, but almost no one knew Link. Zelda hardly ever let him fight his own battles, especially with the village bully, Groose. It was like being smothered by an overprotective pillow.

Also, the other inhabitants of Kako showed little respect towards him for being lead around like a puppy byZelda. Just a few days ago, the owner of the town's bakery, Gondo, had pulled Link aside and suggested that Link start acting like a man and stop taking Zelda's orders.

But Link found it difficult to say no to his best friend.

There was one thing the complicated matters for him. He had developed feelings for his best friend. This, in his opinion, was a perfectly understandable reaction from being best friends with a smart, attractive girl he knew since before he could walk.

Unfortunately for him, his crush conflicted with his desire to let Zelda know how he would like to do things his own way sometimes. Link wanted to speak to Zelda about this, but wasn't sure how she would react. Would she grow so angry that she would end their friendship then and there? Or would she simply laugh and think that he was joking? Either way, he wasn't about to let her know of his thoughts willingly anytime soon.

This line of thinking had put Link into a very subdued mood. He barely cracked a smile when Zelda's cat, Mia, had jumped on the table and attempted to steal food from him.

Nearly half an hour later the pair left Zelda's home and made their way back to the school where several other students were waiting for the doors to re-opened.

Zelda reached out a hand and stopped Link. "Link, is there something wrong?' she asked, concerned. "You've been quieter than usually are and-"

However, her soft voice was cut off by a loud, obnoxious voice saying, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Link the Stink!"

Link spun around and came face to face with Groose, a burly, six-foot tall, brilliantly red-headed, pompadour wearing youth who had come to procure the title of Link's nemesis, flanked by his two cronies, Cawlin and Strich.

"So," Groose began. "What dumb things have you been doing my dopey friend?"

Before Link could respond to Groose, Zelda pushed him to the side and snarled at the bully, "Leave him alone Groose!"

"Why do you even defend him?" Groose asked, irritated. "You should hang out with cooler people," He stroked his pompadour. "Like me."

Zelda got very close to Groose and sharply jabbed his chest. "You're not cool. You're a retarded, egotistical dumbass who likes to pick on people smaller than you. I wouldn't hang out with you even if my life depended on it! What do have against Link anyways?"

Groose shrugged. "Well it's more just the fact that he exists, if you get my drift. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Looking back on it, Link was sure that Groose had meant push Zelda out of his way by her shoulder. But instead what happened was that his large hand missed and landed on her right breast and then pushed in. This caused her to stumble backwards and let out a sharp gasp of pain.

Something inside Link snapped, and he launched himself at Groose, who only seemed to realize what he'd done, when Link's fist collided with his nose. Weeks of annoyance and frustration in his passive friendship with Zelda, along with years of anger towards Groose, went into that punch.

With a sickening crack of cartilage breaking and a cry of pain, Groose fell to the ground clutching his nose as blood seeped through his fingers.

Link was breathing heavily as he stared down at Groose, a mingle sense of triumph and satisfaction at the sight while Zelda and the other students stood there, disbelieving.

"Link…" Zelda began, aghast. "What did...? Why did you…? Do you realize what you've just done?!"

"Yeah." Link said smugly. "And it feels pretty good."

"B-but-"

"LINK!"

Everyone turned to see Professor Horwell marching out of the school looking furious. "WHAT IN THE GODDESSES GOOD NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Link waited for the professor to get close before saying, "Well, sir, I think I just socked Goose in the face."

"And why," Horwell began, his voice low and dangerous. "And why did you assault Groose just now?"

"Well, if you want the full list, it'll take me a few hours to tell, but recently, he hurt Zelda's boob and I had enough of him." Link answer calmly.

Horwell's face took on a cofused expression at Link's explanation before it became stoic and he pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Two hours of detention, Link. I expect to see after school today." He turned to the rest of the students and barked "The rest of you get inside now! And Groose, do something about that nose."

The rest of the school day passed in a blur. Zelda refused to speak with him and instead past him a note telling how much of an idiot he was. After getting the bleeding to stop and setting the broken cartilage back in place, Groose, throughout the lesson, threw dirty looks at Link and mouthed "You're dead".

After the last few minutes of class, where Horwell warned the students of the upcoming exam and the importance of studying, the students left the school eager to spend the rest of the day relaxing, as both Owlan and Horwell neglected to assign homework.

Zelda threw him a look of pity as she walked out with her friends Karane and Peatrice. Groose made a rude gesture towards him as he left followed closely by his gang. Owlan emerged from his office, bade Horwell a good day, and left, leaving Link and Horwell the only people in the building.

Horwell lounged at his desk, reading a book. Occasionally, his eyes flicked up from the book and observed Link for a few seconds before returning to reading.

Link hated detention.

He was not allowed to do anything, which caused him to become bored out of his mind. Several times he dozed off, only to be awoken by a particularly loud cough from Horwell.

Finally, after what seemed like millennia, Horwell spoke in a quiet voice. "Link, you may go now." Link got up quickly, eager to leave.

"But," Horwell raised his voice slightly. "I don't want to see you punch Groose again at school, no matter how much he deserves it."

Link nodded and muttered a quick farewell before leaving the school in haste. He broke into a jog and made his way back to the central part of the village. What Link would've liked to do was go home and sleep, but Zelda would no doubt track him down and reawaken him.

After several minutes of walking, Link arrived in the village square. The square was filled with shops and stands each trying to sell their wares. Merchants went back and forth, buying up certain merchandise and then attempting to sell it at a much higher price.

The square was usually crowded, but today the masses had congregated around a colorful stage. A portly man wearing obnoxious clothing stood on it crying out, "Come one, come all! Come and see the wonderfully magically mysterious GHIRAHIM!"

Link scanned the crowd, looking for the golden hair that signaled his best friend's presence. Finally, he spotted Zelda, who was standing in the front of the crowd, looking curiously at the stage.

Link fought through the crowd, muttering "sorry" and "excuse me" as people parted grudgingly, murmuring unpleasant words at the boy. Eventually, he managed to get to Zelda and tap her shoulder. She turned and upon seeing him her eyebrow furrowed and she opened her mouth to say something before being cut off by the chubby man crying out, "Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you…THE AMAZING GHIRAHIM!"

There was scattered applause as the overweight man wobbled off stage, which was quickly replaced by silence as no one emerged from the stage to be wonderfully, magically mysterious. Just when Link was about to think that 'the amazing Ghirahim' had decided to take a day off, tall figure strode on to the stage.

Ghirahim was a tall, slender being, who walked forth almost regally. His skin was an unatural grayish color, Link wasn't sure if that was makeup or his natural color. Ghirahim's hair was snow-white and swept towards the right side of his face, partially obscuring it. He wore a dirtied white skin-tight suit and a tattered red cape.

The crowd watched, tense with anticipation, as the grey man made his way to the center of the stage. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and a long, thin, black sword appeared in his hand. Some in the crowd let out a yelp of surprise and fright while others simply gape in awe. He snapped his fingers a second and disappearing, causing the crowd to search wildly for him until they heard a soft chuckle at the endof the crowd and found Ghirahim standing there leisurely.

_Snap!_

He was now back on the stage.

_Snap!_

Several daggers now floated around him in a circle.

_Snap!_

The daggers had been replaced with massive swords

This continued for several more minutes until the being snapped away his swords and bowed as the crowd cheered and clapped.

The portly man hurried back on stage and began crying out, "Thank you, thank you! Now you can come and meet the fantastic Ghirahim! For a price of ten rupees of course…"

A large portion of the crowd surged forward, mostly made up of giggling young girls, including Zelda, though she wasn't giggly, instead have a look of genuine curiosity towards Ghirahim.

A line was formed and Link silently felled behind Zelda. The going was slow, and combined the scorching sun, sleepiness, and boredom Link wasn't the happiest person in the world.

Finally, they arrived where Ghirahim was meeting the audience. The overweight man stood in front of him, collecting the fee before allowing anyone to proceed towards the magician.

Zelda approached, handing the man a blue hexagonal crystal that was the commonly accepted currency. Link attempted to follow her, but the generously proportioned man stopped him, holding out his hand. Link, annoyed, shoved his hand into his pocket and produced a blue rupee which he slapped into the waiting hand of the chubby man.

Link approach Ghirahim who was surrounded by a group of women who were swarming around the pale man asking questions and shooting complements. Zelda stood to side, observing the group, as if trying to plan exactly how she was going to go in.

"Oh, Mr. Ghirahim, that was one of the most amazing things I ever seen!" One woman swooned

"By the Goddesses, you are one impressive man!"

"Will you come for dinner, please?"

Ghirahim didn't answer nor did he acknowledge the swooning women. Instead he swept his hair form time to time and smirked arrogantly.

"I wonder how you did it." Zelda had spoken up loudly.

Ghirahim's attention was caught almost immediately due to Zelda speaking in a calm, almost accusatory tone instead of the swooning one of the various women surrounding him.

"Excuse me?" Ghirahim's tone was soft and melodic, almost as if it was embracing the air it traveled on.

"How did you do those tricks?" Zelda asked.

Ghirahim chuckled. "Young lady, that wasn't tricks, that was magic."

Zelda snorted. "Please, everyone knows magic isn't real."

Ghirahim's eyes flashed, and the next time he spoke he voice had taken a slight edge. "What makes you so sure, girl?"

"Magic doesn't exist; it's just something for good storytelling." Zelda said, looking sure of herself. "What you did was probably some sort of illusion, like most 'magic' is nowadays."

Zelda's comments had caused Ghirahim's features to warp into an oddly sinister look.

"Well, you see, girl, true magic can not be comprehended by a –ahem- _weak mind_."

Zelda fired up instantly. "Are you calling me stupid!?"

"Oh, did I imply that? I do apologize." Ghirahim drawled no sincerity in his voice. Zelda's nostrils flared and her face reddened slightly as she glared at the magician.

"At least I'm not an arrogant toe rag."

"Arrogant toe rag?"

"You know, someone so conceited that he won't admit that his tricks are just that, tricks."

Ghirahim took a threatening step forward. "You insolent girl! How dare you question my abilities? You foolish brat, I have seen far more and lived far longer than you, and you think you can strut over and insult my talents!?"

"You don't have any sort of talent, and I don't strut!"

The argument would have continued to escalate if the portly man hadn't appeared saying, "Ghirahim! Hurry, you must prepare for the next show!", before wobbling off, chuckling and counting the rupees earned in his hand.

Ghirahim gazed resentfully at the man's retreating backside before returning it to Zelda.

"Mark my words, girl, you will soon regret your insolence," He hissed before striding off, his admirers following while shooting annoyed glances at Zelda, who was glaring lividly after the magician's back.

After several seconds of silence, Link cleared his throat awkwardly, causing Zelda to spin around in surprise.

"Link! I forgot you were there!"

"That tends to happen a lot with me." Link said dryly.

Zelda gave a strained laugh. "Let's get out of here."

Link nodded and they began to walk away, not going anywhere in particular, just walking. "It almost looked like you were having fun back there."

"Shut up." Zelda grumble. "I hate the man….. Goddesses, I'm not even sure he is a man."

The two walked in a comfortable silence until Zelda asked, "So how was your detention?"

"Same as always, boring and Hornwell kept waking me up when I tried to sleep."

The pair were now leaving the village and entering the farms that surrounded Kako.

"So what's really keeping you up all night?"

Link shifted uncomfortably, recalling one particular train of thought that kept him up last night. "It's personal."

Zelda let out a small laugh. "Come on Link, tell me."

"It's nothing, seriously."

"If it's nothing why can't you tell?"

"Could you just drop it!?" Link said hotly, feeling his temper, which had been boiling below for the surface past several weeks surge again. "I don't have to tell you everything!"

Zelda's teasing smile promptly slid off her face. "What's wrong with you?"

"What?"

"For the past week, you've been acting weird, not sleeping and getting violent at the slightest provocation!"

"I'm not violent!"

"Oh yeah?" Zelda said. "What do you called smashing in Groose's face?"

"He deserved it! And he hurt and touched you in…. that area."

"It wasn't like I had gotten hurt permanently! And he didn't do it on purpose!"

"Are you seriously defending Groose?!"

Zelda's ears grew red. "I'm just trying to be fair. You shouldn't have punched him!"

"What? I should have stood by while he copped a feel?"

"An accident, Link! It was an accident!"

"You know, this would've never happened if you hadn't butted in."

"What are you talking about?" Zelda demanded.

"If you hadn't gotten in between me and Groose, this would have never happened! If you let me handle my own problem, Groose wouldn't have…. Have touched that area and I probably wouldn't have punched him!"

"Why would I just stand by? You're my friend. You're Link, my quiet best friend."

"That's the problem! I'm too quiet! You overshadow me so much that no one knows who I really am! Not even you! I don't like sitting in the background! I like to be heard, to be acknowledged by someone other than you or Groose!"

"Wha-?"

"You want know how things are? When we walk together into town and a person points at you and asks 'who is that' they answer 'oh, that is the smart and beautiful Zelda'! When they then point at me and ask 'who is that' the answer is always 'that Zelda's friend, I think his name's Link or something'!"

"Wait-."

"And so to everyone, I'm nothing, just 'that guy', in background, who just follows the great Zelda around. I'm not respected by anyone, not even you!"

"I respect-!"

"No! No you don't. Because if you did, you would let my handle myself! But no! Instead you think I'm too quiet, too weak, to actually hold myself against anyone!"

"I don't think that!" Zelda exclaimed, finally managing to get a coherent sentence out.

"You know what, Zelda." Link glared. "Sometimes I think I'd be a happier person if I had never met you!" He yelled the last few words.

Those harsh words hung in the air as the color drained from Zelda's face.

Link realized what he had just said and his anger and frustration melted away. "Zelda…"

"I-I see…" Zelda voice cracked. Her eyes had become over bright with as tears formed, her bottom lip quivered as she spun around and walked off.

To her credit she managed to maintain her composure halfway to the village before abruptly turning the right and running off into the trees, leaving Link, stunned by his own words, behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zelda ran through the woods, eyes stinging as tears ran down her face, Link's words echoing in her mind.

_Sometimes I think I'd be a happier person if I had never met you!_

She felt a new wave of tears spring forth as she sprinted through the woods, leaping over fallen trees.

_How could he say that?_ She thought to herself. _Why would he say that?_

She recalled him saying something about how she had overshadowed him so much that he had no way to be heard by anyone else.

Zelda let out a choked sob before yelping in surprise as her foot caught onto an exposed root, causing to trip, falling face forward. Fortunately the ground was relatively soft and the grass cushioned her fall.

Out of breath, she attempted to pull herself back on to her feet to continue her desperate run but her legs refused to cooperate, pushed to their limit. So instead, she collapsed, in a very small clearing; shuddering at tears wracked her body. She played the argument over in over again in her mind.

Eventually, whether it was minutes or hour, she did not know, her tears finally subsided and she now quietly laid upon the earth, clutching the amulet that hung around her neck. This amulet was one of the few mementos she had left of her father, a brave man who had been a guardsman to the town of Kako. He had spent most of his life fending off the monsters that tended to wander into the town at night. Then, on one particular night, a horde of dark creatures assaulted the village. The attack was repelled, but it came with a heavy price. Half the village had been burnt down and the guard corp. had taken heavy casualties, her father included.

She remembered that day vividly, even though she had only been three. She remembered kneeling next to her father's corpse with her mother, bawling her eyes out as her mother looked on in disbelief.

But that day wasn't completely bad… it had been the day she had meet and befriended Link.

As she cried next to her father's body, Link had come up and stood next to her wearing a shocked, slightly confused expression at the aftermath of destruction that had taken place. Eventually his gaze had landed on Zelda and her mother and then flicked to her father's body and then said, "I'm sorry."

This hushed Zelda and caused her mother to look at Link with a confused expression. Unlike the rest of the townsfolk that were nearby, speaking in hollow voices, as if all hope had been lost; Link spoke in a clear, strong voice. Zelda had looked up to see his face on to find him staring intently at the burnt patch of forest for which the demons had burst forth. He then turned around and walked off.

Zelda later learned that both his parents had also been killed. Apparently, they had attempted to buy time for the town guard to fall back and reconsolidate but were quickly overwhelmed by the foe's superior numbers.

The day after, Zelda had sought Link out and upon spotting him she hurried over and introduced herself before indoctrinating him as her new best friend.

Zelda couldn't help but give a small, sad smile at this pleasant memory before sighing, wondering if that would be all she will have left of her friendship with the boy.

Pulling herself to a sitting position, she continued to peruse her memories, recalling the especially happy ones involving Link and her.

Lost in thought, she did not notice the slim figure approach from behind.

"My, my," Zelda started as the voice behind her drawled. "What do we have here?"

Zelda quickly stood up and spun around only to come face to face with none other than Ghirahim himself.

"You!" she exclaimed.

"Me." Ghirahim smiled smugly. "You seem to be having some emotional trouble."

"It's none of your business!"

Ghirahim's smirk grew. "That is exactly why it is _so_ much more interesting."

"What do you want?" Zelda asked angrily.

Ghirahim stroked his chin. "Hm, what do I want, such interesting question, do you think? I want many things, dear girl. However, one desire currently dominates all others." He smiled wickedly. "After all, I did say you will come to regret insulting me, didn't I?"

Zelda squinted at Ghirahim for several before exclaiming, "_You_ were the one that made Link like that!" A tiny glimmer of hope. Maybe it was Ghirahim's influence that caused Link's outburst.

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow and looked at her incredulously. "_I_ made that boy at like that? Dear me, girl, I thought you'd be conceited but not this much so! _You _blame _me_ for that?" He let out a dark chuckle. "Girl, that is _your_ doing, not mine."

"Wha-?"

"I must agree with him, though, you _are_ quite overbearing."

"How could I have made Link act like that?!" Zelda demanded angrily. "H-he was obviously being influence by… by something else!"

"Ah, denial." Ghirahim chuckled. "The boy has begun resenting you months ago, and you, his so-called best friend, could not even see it!" Ghirahim laughed. "_How amusing_!"

"This isn't amusing!" Zelda stamped her foot. "And why do you even care about this!"

Ghirahim smiled darkly. "It pleasures me to see in so much pain, girl. Your 'best friend' has abandoned you and you have no one to blame but yourself."

"Sh-shut up!" Zelda's voice had taken on a high pitched quality.

"However, I do not have all day to discuss your former friendship, I still need my revenge."

"Revenge?! For what? Insulting you?! What are you, a psychopath?"

Ghirahim snapped his fingers and a long black dagger appeared in his hand.

"Yes and no. You see, you have an ancestor that made my life difficult a few hundred years ago. Seeing as said ancestor is dead, I have to take it out in you, their desendant."

"So, you're going to kill me?"

Ghirahim let out a menacing laugh. "Kill you? And end your suffering? I think not. After all, where is the fun in that?" He said before disappearing.

Zelda looked around wildly until an arm grabbed her and the tip of a blade pressed against the small of her back.

"Imagine." Ghirahim breathed into her ear. "Imagine yourself without the qualities of your spiritual being that you hold dear." The blade moved lower until it brushed her hips. "Without your beauty…" The blade moved upwards and tapped her skull. "Without you intellect…" The tip moved downward until it pressed against her above her left breast. "Or without even a semblance of bravery."

Ghirahim chuckled into her ear. "You'd be nothing but a stupid, cowardly hag that no one would wish to do anything with!"

The knife returned to the small of her back.

"What do you think of that, hm?" He said in a menacingly soft voice.

"Screw you."

Ghirahim's face turned ugly look of fury. "Wrong answer." He said before smashing the hilt of the knife into her skull, letting her fall to ground unconscious.

"Wrong answer indeed."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Link looked out the window of his room, hoping to see the familiar golden hair that signified the arrival of his friend… at least he hoped they were still friends, before sitting back down.

He had been waiting for hours after his out burst and her running off for her to return to the village. As minutes stretched into hours, Link continued to beat himself up about how he yelled at his best friend, waiting for her to return from the woods. But now, the sun was steady declining in the sky, and Link knew that the forest became a very dangerous place at night.

Link fidgeted nervously. Maybe, just maybe, she had taken different route back into town. He stood up from his chair and decided that he would go to Zelda's house to see if she had return home and was with her mother.

_She could be home, crying her eyes out_ he thought miserably as he left his room, pulling on a coat to ward off the cooling temperatures hat were now accompanying the setting of the sun.

He quickly made his way down the darkening streets in the direction of Zelda's house. Link passed several fellow townsfolk on his way, each scurrying quickly back to the relative safety of their homes.

A minute later, he arrived at the front door and knocked on the door.

Link waited a few seconds as a shadow on the other side moved around until the door opened to reveal Zelda's mother's face.

"Link? Can I help you?"

"Is Zelda home?"

Zelda's mother gave Link a confused look. "Zelda? I thought she was with you."

Link felt an increasing feeling of dread. "She's not here?"

"No, she's not. Why wouldn't she be?"

Link shifted uncomfortably. "Well… we might have had and fight and she, um, ran off into the woods crying…"

Her mother gave horrified look. "D-Do you mean to tell me that my daughter is currently inside the woods at sunset?!" She screeched before sliding down onto the ground.

"My only child… I lost my husband and now I will lose my daughter…" She said in a faint voice.

Link moved forward in a vain attempt to help her up, but was shooed away. "No, no boy, leave me be, leave me to mourn…"

Link took one last look at his best friend's mother before walking off, his thoughts in turmoil.

_Crap, Crap, Crap. Zelda could be dead right now! Almost nobody who goes into the forest at night ever returns alive. And she's dead because of me…_

Link dwelled on this thought for several seconds, imagining that tomorrow a search party would be sent into the woods and that they would come back with the mutilated body that was once the vibrant Zelda. He continued to play this over and over in his mind, growing more and more convinced that he had unintentionally killed Zelda.

Link stopped walking.

"She can't be dead." He muttered. "I _know _she isn't dead."

He didn't know how or why, but he suddenly had this gut feeling that Zelda was alive some where in the forest, alone and scared, but alive. And he was going to find her and bring her back.

He broke into a stride, headed back home. Before going into the forest, he would need a few things.

He quietly reentered his house. Aryll was probably in her room, while his grandfather was most likely asleep.

Link quietly crept through the house until he reached his room. He quickly threw off his current clothing in exchange for a sturdier set of clothing. After looking through the assorted articles of clothing strewn about his room, Link finally came up with a green tunic and a pair of tan pants. He put on this new garb before proceeding.

He slipped out of his room and quietly made his way to the opposite side of the house, stopping as he reach his grandfather's door.

Cautiously, he nudged the door open and in the blackness, Link spied his objective. Mounted of the wall of the room was a sword, below that was a chest were his grandfather stored his equipment from the days when he was a young adventurer.

Link edged into the room, quietly moving towards the wall. He couldn't let his grandfather know what he was going to do. After the major attack on the village all those years ago, his grandfather had become far more strict in going into dangerous situations, not wanting his son's children to be killed.

As Link drew closer to the chest, his heart began thumping in his chest, so loudly that Link began to fear that it would wake his grandfather. Ever few steps, he would stop to listen to the sound of his grandfather's snoring in order to reassure himself.

Finally, after what seemed like a hour, but in fact was probably only a minute or two, Link successfully arrived at his target.

After checking to making sure his grandfather continued to sleep, Link reached up and carefully detached his grandfather's sword from its place. After lowering the weapon to the ground, Link turned his attention to the chest's contents. Slowly opening the chest, Link cringed when it began to speak loudly. In a slight panic, Link threw up the top, revealing assorted goods within.

Link began to shift through, taking out a pair of fingerless leather gloves, the sword's sheath, a shield, and an equipment belt.

After quickly sliding the sword into the sheath, Link stood up, only to be jarred when his grandfather's soft voice calmly asked, "Link, what exactly do you plan on doing with those?"

Link slowly turned around to find his grandfather sitting up in bed, observing him quietly.

"Um…"

"I'm waiting for an answer, Link."

Link's mouth went dry and for a split second he thought about lying to his grandfather. However he quickly banished the thought because his grandfather would easily see through it and that he could not manufacture a lie that could explain this.

"Zelda is in forest…"

"In the forest you say?" His grandfather said concerned. "But how? She's smart enough to know not to go in at night. What could possess her to do such a thing?"

Link sighed. "It's a long story, grandpa, and I don't have the time to tell it because Zelda is somewhere out there, alone, in the forest. And I need your things so I can go, find her, and bring her back safe!"

His grandfather gave a sorrowful look. "And you plan to simply run head first into the woods?"

"What other option do I have? Every second we wait, Zelda's chances of survival are diminishing."

Link's grandfather sighed. "You are too much like your parents, my boy…" From the tine of his voice, link began to fear that his grandfather might try and keep him from going.

"…Go."

"What?" Link asked, taken aback.

"Go. Go and bring her home safely."

It a few seconds for the words to sink in before he quickly nodded and picked up the equipment. As he walked out of the room, his grandfather called him back. "Link."

"Yes?"

"I don't want to catch thieving my room again. Next time, I will not be as lenient."

Link nodded in understanding before dashing through the house, out the front door, and into the night.

_Hang in there Zelda, I'm coming._

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Zelda slowly opened her eyes, her head throbbing.

She let out a groan of frustration before freezing. The groan that had been emitted from her mouth sounded nothing like how her voice should sound like, far too high pitched.

She then realized that she was covered in some sort of cloth. She frantically dug her way out before stopping.

_How did the trees get so big!? _She thought to herself before looking down at the cloth that she had been covered with and yelped.

_Those are _my _clothes! And they've gotten bigger too!_

Zelda reached out to grab her clothing only to freeze at the sight of her arm.

_My arm! It's not human!_

Her arms were now short and thin, covered in tan colored fur and ending in a four-fingered, hand-like, claw.

Fearfully, Zelda looked down at the rest of her body. Instead of a shapely hourglass figure that had been developing over the past few years, supplemented by your standard human legs, her body was shaped like a pear. Her chest area was narrow, but as her eyes moved downwards, the body grew in width to her thighs until dramatically constricting into a pair of stubby legs. She was covered in brown, bristly fur that paled at her belly.

Realizing that she no longer had any of her golden locks on her head, she reached up and instead felt a cluster of leaves. She then also realized that a bulb-shaped growth was on her back.

Zelda let out a high pitched screech. "What's happened to me?!" She cried in an equally high pitched voice.

Suddenly a nearby bush rustled, caused Zelda to shrink back in fear. After a few seconds, a creature, similar to her new form, wobbled out.

"Oh, hello!" It said in a slightly higher voice than her new one. "Do know who was yelling around here? It sounded like they were in trouble!"

"Uh, the was me…" Zelda squeaked quietly. "And who are you? What are you?"

"I'm Donaki! And, like you, I'm a Kikwi!"

"Um, okay. I'm Zelda, and I'm a human…"

The Kikwi stared at her for several seconds before bursting into a fit of shrill laughter.

"That is… very… funny!" Donaki said in between laughs. Zelda waited into he regained his composure.

"Say," The Kikwi had spotted Zelda's clothes. "Why are those human clothes piled right there?"

"They're mine." Zelda said.

"Why would you carry around human- oh!"

_Finally! _Zelda thought, thinking the Kikwi had just realized her true species.

"You carry those clothes around to make you 'I am a human' joke seem more real!"

"What? No-!" Zelda was cut off as an unearthly shriek filled the air and Zelda found herself instinctively running into the foliage with the other Kikwi.

"W-we should go. I'll take you to the rest of the tribe." Donaki murmured fearfully as Zelda nodded in agreement, the same intense fear flowing throughout her.

However, before she left, Zelda dug around her pile of clothing and pulled out her amulet and draped it around herself before trotting off to catch up with Donaki.

The small pair wobbled through the night forest quickly and eventually they reached a large clearing where several other Kikwis were gathered about, looking just as frightened as Zelda felt.

"Hello, my friends." Donaki said quietly. "This is Zelda, I found her in the forest and she'll be staying with us for a while."

The other Kikwis muttered hello just as another screech filled the air. The group clustered together and one Kikwi said, "Into the trees, into the trees, everybody, so we can hide!"

The group slowly and carefully edged their way to the trees that ringed the clearing, flinching at the slightest sound.

Finally, to Zelda's relief, they reach the trees and cowered and a particularly large oak.

"We should be safe… for now…"

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Link pushed aside a trees branch, eyes peeled for any sign of Zelda.

An hour into his search, the boy had already gotten lost three times, went in a circle five time, and have a few hundred assorted scratches on his arms and legs, but he continued to push forward in his search.

After a while, Link came across a snapped branch. Link was about to dismiss it as just any old snapped branch and continue on with his search when he noticed how green the inside was of said. Concluding that the branch had been snapped relatively recently, Link turned his attention to the surrounding area. After finding more snapped branches and flattened patches of grass, Link knew that someone had ran wildly through here.

His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted a golden stand of hair, caught in the lower branches of a tree. With his direction confirmed, Link broke into a jog, following the trail of broken branches and such.

Several minutes later, the trail suddenly stopped, leaving Link in a small clearing. Link looked around, hoping to find Zelda there when his eyes landed on a pile of discarded clothing.

Zelda's clothing.

Link rushed over, half expecting the clothes to be covered in blood and ripped to shreds only to find them in relatively good condition, just with a few grass stains here and there.

_Why would Zelda take off her clothes? _Link asked himself.

Of course, his teenage, hormone charged brain instantly presented him with a mental image of Zelda gallivanting through the forest in the nude, but he quickly dismissed in order to examine the clothes, hoping to find some clue on why they were here and not on her body.

Unfortunately, a pile of discarded clothing doesn't tend to tell much about what happened to the owner, through it did do a pretty good job plaguing ones mind with certain fantasies.

Deciding that the clothes weren't going to help his search, Link gathered them all up and stowed it away in his pouch, planning on returning the articles once to Zelda once he found her.

He had just fastened the pouch's clasp and had straightened up when he heard a light cough behind him.

Link spun around to see a familiar face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the gallant hero." Ghirahim said in an urbane voice.

"Hey, you're the magician guy!"

Ghirahim frowned. "Yes… I am, as you so eloquently put it, 'that magician guy."

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, well, you see, the moon was so bright tonight, I felt like taking a stroll in this monster infested forest just for the amusement of it." Ghirahim drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Link simply glare at him.

"Oh? Not buying it, are you? I suppose I can tell…" Ghirahim said, a grin playing on his lips. "You see, there happens to a quite impolite young lady that I was enacting revenge upon."

Link hands tightened into fists. "Are talking about Zelda?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, her name was Zelda, wasn't it?"

"Where is she?" Link snarled.

"Why should I disclose that information to you, boy?"

"If you don't tell me…" Link's reached up and gripped the hilt of his sword.

Ghirahim smirked. "Now, when has violence solved anything?"

Link glared fury evident in his eyes.

"Not feeling very talkative, boy?"

No answer.

"Hm, it seems like _your parents _have not taught you any manners."

Link suddenly felt abnormal cold before at the mention of his deceased parents before a surge of white hot fury took over.

In one swift motion, Link drew his sword.

Ghirahim's smirk widened. "Goodness, I seemed to have touched a nerve… your parents, correct?"

Link leapt at him, his sword held high until he brought it down on his foe, only to find that Ghirahim had disappeared.

"So be it."

Link spun around, spotting Ghirahim only a few feet away. His smirk was gone now, replaced by a grim look and he now had a black blade in his hand.

"Are you going to just stand there? Or shall we begin?"

With a resounding battle cry, Link charged at Ghirahim.

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Zelda didn't understand it.

Her being was entirely possessed by a feeling of intense fear. Of course, she saw no problem with that. Any sane person would be just as scared as her now.

After all, she was in a dark forest in the middle of the night, had been turned into a furry forest creature, and huddling frightfully with a group of said forest creatures.

What was puzzling to her, when she wasn't panicking from the slightest noise, was her inability to master her fear. For ever rustle of a branch, every snapping twig, and every unnatural howl or screech that permeated the forest she felt like she was about to have a heart attack and pressed closer against her new-found comrades.

The group whimpered and squeaked at every sound. This went on for hours and Zelda was begin to think that she would be killed by every fright at a new heart-stopping noise entered the cacophony, a loud yell followed by a multitude of clanging noises.

Zelda listened and realized the sound she was hearing was at least two pieces of metal being banged into one another.

The sound was so foreign to the forest that the other Kikwi stopped shivering in fear in order to properly listen to it.

Zelda was so absorbed in the sound, wondering what it might be, that she failed to notice it getting louder and louder until a dark shape burst from the brush, flying in the air until it came crashing unto the ground.

Shortly after, another dark shape appeared, walking leisure to the former who was gasping for breath as it pulled itself to its feet.

"My, my, you are _quite _the swordsman, boy."

Zelda's veins ran cold at the sound of Ghirahim's voice. _Who's life was he messing up now?_ She thought to herself.

The unknown figure snarled and charged at Ghirahim's form and the two reengaged in combat.

For several minutes, the pair continued the fight, each attempting to outmaneuver one another.

Unfortunately, Ghirahim once again smacked his adversary away, causing him to hit a tree.

Ghirahim triumphantly looked around, his eyes landed on and widen slightly.

"Oh, look who it is, boy! Your friend!"

The figure got back up and stepped into the moonlight, causing Zelda to freeze in shock.

_Link…_

"What are you talking about?" Link growled.

Ghirahim ignored the question, focusing on Zelda. "She seems to be fairing her curse quite well, and look! She has found members of her new kind!" He said gleefully.

Then, suddenly, Ghirahim looked up towards the moon. "Oh my, look at the time! I really must get going." Ghirahim turned to Link. "I enjoyed our little quarrel, but I have more important issues to attend to. Oh, and you may want to speak with your friend now, so she can inform you of her…," Ghirahim let out a maniacal giggle. "…predicament."

Before anyone could react, he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving a cloud of strange diamonds in his wake.

"Hey! Come back and fight, you coward!" Link angrily yelled into the night.

Breathing heavily, he then turned his attention to the spot Ghirahim was talking at, only to find a huddle of strange little creatures.

Zelda felt herself panic as she watched Link's eyes scan each Kikwi until then landed on her, and he then saw the amulet draped around her.

She watched as his eyes widened in recognition and mouth gaped as he made the connection.

"Zelda?!"


End file.
